9th Computing Summer School on Particle Physics Held
arlFrom July 27 to 31, 2026, the Particle Physics Computing Consortium held the 9th Computing Summer School on Particle Physics at KEK's Kobayashi Hall. The Consortium is a community focused on computing technologies for particle physics, nuclear physics, cosmic-ray physics, and astrophysics. The school is one of the main pillars of its activities and is aimed at graduate students in physics who may not yet be familiar with the latest computing technologies and aims to provide equal opportunities for training young researchers regardless of the location of their university, while also giving instructors an opportunity to catch up with the latest technologies themselves. This year's school welcomed 45 graduate students from 31 laboratories at 14 universities across Japan, with seven instructors from KEK's Computing Research Center.
The curriculum included core lectures required of all participants, covering fundamental and applied computing and networking technologies (GPGPU, Cluster computing, and Grid computing) as well as essential techniques for data analysis (statistical analysis, machine learning, and simulation). Sessions on Quantum computing and Real-time computing were also included. In the afternoons, the applied computing course (covering practical Deep learning, Modern C++, and software development tools) and the ATLAS software course were offered in parallel. On the final day, all participants gave five-minute presentations showcasing the projects they had worked on over the four days, each bringing their own creative approach. Details of the program are available on the school's website.
Post-school surveys asked participants about the content and their level of understanding of each session. Despite the demanding schedule, feedback was largely positive, with many participants expressing a strong wish to see the in-person format continue. Including this year's event, the school has now been held nine times, drawing a total of 362 participants from 28 universities and research institutions. Participants' backgrounds have expanded well beyond experimental physics to include theoretical physics, accelerator science, and materials science, with attendees now coming from universities across all of Japan. The school will continue its efforts to provide educational opportunities to a wide range of students.
The 9th Computing Summer School on Particle Physics was supported by the International Center for Elementary Particle Physics (ICEPP) at the University of Tokyo and by KEK's International and Inter-Institution Network for Accelerator Science to Next Generation (IINAS-NX) program.
